[CINC] Island Adventure-1/16

[paul jr petrich]

Hello Ocean People,
  Today Captain Jimmy took 45 passengers out to the back side of Anacapa via the AI-SCI gap under cool, clear skies, and a calm sea. We only saw one Gray just beyond the gap, and an active pod of  200 Common Dolphin half way out to Anacapa. However, our passengers, to every man and women, deemed it a wonderful whale trip. They were a very diverse group, with many doing the trip as part of a Bio-Physics conference. They hailed from almost every European country, as well as eastern Canada. Well over half of them had never been whale watching before. The "see-for-ever" weather, and crew woman DeeDee's narration I am sure contributed to their contentment. Also, I found them very interested in the fact (and reasons for it) that Gray Whales were hunted to extinction in the Atlantic Ocean by the early 1800s, and how our population has rebounded out of near oblivion.
        Skipper Jimmy circumnavigated the back side of Anacapa where  we were treated to the sight of seemingly thousands of California Sea Lions both sunning on the rocks and playing in the sea. One group even did a stampede into the water, for no apparent reason. Equally impressive, on that backside, were the hundreds of sea birds of every kind diving and resting in a feeding  zone.
 On the way home Pancho, the other crew member, had many great stories to share about the now friendly behavior of the Gray Moms and their calves in the lagoons of Baja California, where he works part time as a guide. It was a very good day to be out on the  Channel !   Paul Petrich
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